Pursuit's Take
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers the federal crop insurance program with private insurance companies. In 2011, the program provided about $113 billion in insurance coverage for over 1 million policies. Program costs include subsidies to pay for part of farmers’ premiums. According to the Congressional Budget Office, for fiscal years 2013 through 2022, the program costs—primarily premium subsidies—will average $8.9 billion annually.
If a limit of $40,000 had been applied to individual farmers’ crop insurance premium subsidies, as it is for other farm programs, the federal government would have saved up to $1 billion in crop insurance program costs in 2011, according to GAO’s analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.
Media Coverage
New York Times: Report Says a Crop Subsidy Cap Could Save Billions
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